Ironman Augusta 70.3 2016 Race Recap

Ironman Augusta 70.3 2016 Race Recap

September 25 was going to be my day.  The Ironman  Augusta 70.3 triathlon was finally here.  The race I had been training so hard for on one of my favorite courses.  It was four-and-a-half months...

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Letter to the Triathlon Coach

Letter to the Triathlon Coach

I have been an endurance coach for some time now.  Once in a while, I receive an email from a client which chokes me up with pride.  Today, I received one of those letters, so instead of sharing it...

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FD3 Triathlon: Goof Recap

FD3 Triathlon: Goof Recap

The previous post was a review of the FD3 Triathlon Series as if it was a product.  Below you will find a more detailed account of my personal experiences during the race.  Let me know in the...

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Catching up with the Goof #3

Catching up with the Goof #3

As stated in web-ease “O-M-G!” I have so much information to share It is hard to think about anything else.  Unfortunately, I started on a new contract a couple of months ago and now that I am fully immersed in it, my days are becoming hectic.  Not only that but I have my own training, coaching clients and getting ready for the CPT test this month, so needless to say hectic is the only word to describe my activities right now.

Have you noticed the new change to IronGoof.com?  I have moved away from a complete blog site to a more of a Coaching  Site.  I hope you like the new looks.  Please feel free to explore and send some feedback on the changes.  It will continue to be a work in progress, so any and all honest comments on the site are very welcome and encouraged.

Coming up over the next weekend or so I am going to be sharing news about past events and the latest going’s on.

Boulder signI just returned back from Boulder, Colorado where I spent five amazing days working some of the top running coaches on form and performance.  The Newton Running Lab hosted certification training for RRCA, Newton and Lydiard.  The content included proper running form with drills, strength exercises, injury prevention, injury management and transition plans.  While I was intrigued with the Newton Coaching formula, I was excited that a portion of it mimicked my own.  The only part that my personal coaching methodology added was the intricacies of making the running form personal to each person.  Newton believes proper running mechanics are the same for everyone, and with the hundreds of hours I spent learning my own body I know this isn’t true, but it is a good place to start.

The Lydiard Certification training was the best part.  Arthur Lydiard was a New Zealand running coach that coached many Olympians to medals including gold in the 1500 meters and beyond.  He later mentored other coaches to a point where he is actually considered “The Coach of Coaches of Champions.”  Obviously, this resonated with me because Arthur himself was not a competitor, but he coached more champion runners than any other coach to this day.  As I really do not compete with anyone other than myself for PRs, this validated my feelings on coaching and my passion for it.  As this is a coaching method, not a form method, it also validated a lot of what I already incorporate, but I also enhanced my knowledge greatly.

It was taught by Lorraine Moller who herself was a three time Olympian to include racing in the first LM Collageever Olympic Women’s Marathon in 1984 where she took 5th.  She did won bronze in 1992 at the Barcelona games in the Women’s Marathon.  Her credits also include winning Grandma’s Marathon three times, the Boston Marathon, the Osaka Ladies Marathon twice, the Hokkaido Marathon twice, and second in the Commonwealth Games.  She was coached by John Davies who was mentored by Arthur Lydiard.  Lorraine herself was followed by Arthur and would consistently give her pep talks before competition.  She is an amazing speaker and completely passionate about running and the Lydiard Coaching method as well as the founder and president of the Lydiard Foundation.  I was extremely lucky to have someone as accomplished as she is as an instructor for the class.

 

The class was kept fairly small in order to provide us with a lot of individual instruction.  We went through analysis of our own form using video which was really interesting.  I know that my form isn’t perfect, but my mechanics are good.  I found that I actually do not lift my knees as much as I should, and when I applied it later the form became even easier.  I learned a lot and I hope to attend the level 3 class later in the year.

Boulder as a city was awesome!!!  The scenery was amazing as it was surrounded by mountains and the culture really resonated with me.  Boulder’s environment seems to revolve around two things, athletics and the arts.  Which are my two passions, so this city really got under my skin. Everywhere you go, everyone is traveling on bicycles and avid cyclists and triathletes are training.  Pearl Street is filled with small businesses, to include, coffee shops, restaurants and bars, and none of them are chains.  You cannot find a McDonald’s or Wal-Mart anywhere the residents won’t allow it which is great.  The quad-like feeling of this outdoor “mall” for lack of a better term, is filled with musicians playing and practicing, photographers, writers, and artists.  It gives the feel of a old small town but with the University of Colorado in the midst, it also brings in a younger element that increases the energy of the area.  The weather started the day in the high 50s and increased to the mid 80s and then ended in the high 60s.  There is almost no humidity, so the air smells fresh and clean.  Since most people utilize people-powered transportation it feels as though exhaust fumes do not even exist.  I just fell in-love with Boulder and Colorado.  I am not quite sure I ever want to live in a place with winter months, but if I did, I definitely would consider Colorado and Boulder._MG_2225.CR2

My plan is to sit and complete the few posts I have started this weekend to bring you the following:

  • Race recaps for: Tampa Bay Corporate 5k, Escape from Ft. DeSoto, Saint Anthony’s Triathlon, the Police Appreciation Run and Miles for Moffitt.
  • I have a guest blog post, and a corroboration post that will both prove very interesting.
  • Product reviews on: The Newton Terra Momentum running shoes, the Mizuno Evo running shoes, the Nike Free 5.0 running shoes, Entrade-S -R pre and post workout supplements, Chia Power Gels, and Champ-Sys Tri kits.
  • Tribute post for Lorraine Moller
  • New campaign of entries called the IronGoof-Lydiard Experiment..more to come on that.

That should keep me busy for a while.  Have an amazing week!  Live with Passion.

Carpe Viam!

Goof Race Recap – HITS Ocala

Goof Race Recap – HITS Ocala

HITS is a fairly new triathlon series, with a unique concept.  Their tag line is “A distance for everyone”, which really says it all.  A HITS weekend consists of 70.3 (half-iron distance) and a 140.6(full-iron distance) on Saturday, and on Sunday, Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons.  It is a pretty cool concept, and they are really well-organized.

After having breakfast with the Team Foley after the Fight for Air Climb I headed out to Ocala with the hope of seeing at least Margie, Kari and Megan cross the finish line.   I have to admit, while I have been training, it hasn’t been as focused as it should have.  My “off-season” mentality didn’t quite transition into the race attitude just yet, but I thought I was at least in shape to do the Oly.  In triathlon season, usually the first couple of months, is usually “Base” phase which just gets the wheels and legs rolling again, develop some strength and start gaining the endurance needed for race season.  With that in mind, I figured an Olympic distance would be perfect to baseline where I am in my training.  Imagine my surprise when I saw a lot of my friends out on Saturday competing in the 70.3.  As I was watching competitors and friends cross the line there was a familiar itch developing in my heart.  I didn’t quite notice what it was at the time.

The course for the 70.3 was pretty intense with loops that included a 1.2 mile swim in a 65 degree Lake Weir, 56 miles of rolling hills and wind of the bike, and an intense mixture of soft trails, and asphalt out-and-backs for the 13.1 mile run.  I was too busy losing my lungs to catch any of the swim or bike, but I was happy to be around to see the finale of the run.

I had my first blog recognition, which was really nice.  I was at the expo, grabbing a couple of Honey Stinger gels for my race the next day and I was chatting with the owner of Kickstart Endurance and she told me she followed IronGoof.  I tried not to make a big deal out of it, but secretly I was really excited.

I missed Margie, but I was really happy to see Megan and Kari cross the finish.  They both were finishing their first 70.3 along with some other members of the Tri Psych Club, so for them this was a huge accomplishment and deserved a celebration.  That itch started to intensify at Chili’s that night as everyone’s conversation about their race surrounded me.

I really attempted to be nonchalant about this race.  I kept telling myself, “Self, this is no big deal.  You know you are not ready to race, this is a small race and this is going to tell you what you need to work on.”  Unfortunately, waking up the next morning at 4:30a, and preparing my gear not only woke up my consciousness but the competition juices and anxiety levels as well.  I showered, dressed, applied my TriTats, loaded the car and off I went.

As I mentioned before, the organization of this race was first-rate, from, staff organizing parking to the transition areas.   Have I mentioned the transition area?  In previous races I have barely glanced over the amenities of the transition areas, well except for the Rev3 Venice Beach.  Let me put it this way, if the transition areas were cars, then every other race I have been in were Toyotas, the Rev3 was a Lexus, and the HITS series was a Bentley.  Not only were there boxes that held gear and clamped a tire for easy removal of the bike, plenty of room for transition setup in-between the bikes, but each participant had their own personal stool with their number and last name on them.  It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it really is the little things that make an impression.

I headed down to the beach with my wet suit on halfway, goggles and swim cap in hand.  The temperature outside was perfect with just a slight breeze and the sun was starting to slowly creep up over the horizon.  I was incredibly grateful to see my friends down on the beach.  Pete, Kari, Megan, Michael, Stan and a couple f others as it made me feel slightly less stressed.  After the mandatory meeting, all of the males waded out a bit into the water for the start.  My anxiety reared a little due to the fact, I was using my backup goggles because my regular goggles broke in transition and this was the coldest water I had ever swam in.

The whole beach counted off, “Three, Two, One…” and the horn blew.  We all ran or dolphin dived toward the first buoy.  The water was kind of shallow so I did have some time to start to get used to the water.  I remembered my strategy and my stroke count and I started swimming.  I started losing ground within the first 200m, which was normal for me.  My new stroke technique is still relatively new, so I figured I wasn’t going to be fast immediately.  When I reached the first buoy, I started feeling short of breath, even though I thought I was relatively relaxed.  My chest started to feel compressed like I was being stepped on, and my arms were not moving as freely as I wanted them to.  I moved to breast stoke to see if I could relax a bit, but it was to know avail, the compression would just not loosen. I have never had an issue with my wet suit.  Except for getting out of it, I kinda like it.  I feel more buoyant, warmer and protected from other things that may cause issues in open water.  Now I just felt like it was python, strangling me. I kept going, but it was a combination of freestyle, side stroke, and breast stoke.  When I reached the second buoy, my mind went into overdrive trying to get me to quit.  The ideas popping in my head were asinine.  I kept hearing, “You aren’t trained for this”, “You don’t belong here.”, “Just get out of the water.  It is only a baseline remember?”.  The thing was, I had another loop to do.  I swam toward third buoy, and the water became very shallow, so we really didn’t have any choice but to run through it and start dolphin diving again.   I forced myself to have the one thought that has gotten me through tough training, cold, wet and rainy workouts, and exhausting races; “The mind will quit one-hundred times before the body does.”  I told myself, “Self, that is first and only time that is going to happen today.”  I ran around the third buoy and headed out for my second loop.

The second loop felt a little better, but I was so happy to get out of that wet suit.  I am still not quite certain why I felt that way. It wasn’t the size of the wet suit because when I bought it I was 25 pounds heavier.  Either way I ran out of the water unzipping and getting out of it on my way to transition.  One of the strippers told me to lay down and she yanked it off of me.  I grabbed my helmet while I put on my shoes and crossed the mat in less than 3 minutes.  

bike2

The bike course was actually pretty nice.  Rolling hills, with well conditioned roads and plenty help by the Sheriff’s department.  I wanted to make up sometime, so in my head I thought to just keep passing people.  I only got passed twice during the first ten miles of the twenty-five mile course and I was happy with that.  I played cat & mouse with a couple of them, and ended up passing them in during the last half of the course.  Unfortunately, there was a storm on the horizon and the wind picked up quite a bit on on the second half, not to mention the hills were more abundant and steeper(at least for Florida).   My speed, that I was holding quite consistent at 21 mph started to drop to 18, then 17 and at that point, I refused to go under 18 mph.  I came into transition, averaging 19.1 and I was proud of that.

I racked my bike and sat on my stool to put on my socks and shoes.  I got hung up a little bit, but was still out of there in less than 3 minutes, and it was off to the run.  Pete yelled at me as I headed into the trees, “This is the fun part”.  At first I agreed with him.

run2

I decided to wear my Hoka One One Biondi Speed 2 running shoes with the large sole, because I wanted to test how they felt on a triathlon after being on the bike.  Big mistake.  At first the ground wasn’t very soft, and I was ok running about an 8:15 mile, but as I got further into the woods, the trail got softer and softer.  With that big sole, not only was my foot pushing down on the sole, but then into the soft ground causing three times as much resistance as the a regular running shoe.  I didn’t figure this out at first, but after one-and-a-half miles, I felt like I needed to stop, and that was not usual, not matter what kind of shape I was in.  I walked at the aid station for about 200 yards and then I continued running but at a much slower pace.  I had to do two loops of the run course as well, and I could feel the resistance ease off when I hit the asphalt again.  All of the sudden I was lighter and faster, but I had to do a second  loop into the woods again.  I decided my strategy would be to walk a hundred yards at the aid station and 100 yards at the turn-around, but other than that I would let my legs do what could.   It worked out well as my splits were faster on the second loop.

I ran out of the woods with Pete snapping shots and hearing cheers from Megan, Kari and a couple of others.  As, I crossed the finish line it became clear to me, that I am not in the shape I was in for my last 70.3, but I would enjoy this moment as a victory.  It was not a PR, but it this race let me know what I need to do over the next months in order to take on the rest of my race schedule.

After calming down a bit and chatting with Pete and a few other friends, Summer Bailey found me.  She had competed in the 70.3 the day before.  Summer lives in Georgia, so we really only see each other at races and occasionally chat on Facebook  so it was really incredible to actually chat and catch up with her in person.  She is an amazing woman and with a huge heart and ferocious determination.  We both agreed that neither one of us had trained enough for our races, but it was good to have a race under our belt for the year.  Chatting with her was encouraging, and I know we will be seeing each other again during the season.   To be able to see and chat with her and some others that I do not get to train with allowed me to remember one of the greatest thing about triathlon and racing in general.  It’s the friends  and connections we make.  Other than having a good race and crossing the finish line, it is the best part about it.

 

Besides crossing the finish line what are the best experiences you have competing?

 

Carpe Viam!

 

Guest Goof Review – Flashdance:The Musical

Guest Goof Review – Flashdance:The Musical

I was courted to review Flashdance: The Musical at the Straz Center for their opening night on Tuesday, but other commitments kept me from attending.  Rather than give up my tickets and sacrifice a review I sent volunteers, Mrs. Miranda Lessie, Mrs. Amy Eck and Bennett Eck in my place.

This is my first Guest Blog as it is written by Miranda Lessie.

Flashdance: The Musical – Straz Center for the Arts, Tampa Florida.  19 Feb 2013

Move over Las Vegas, there is a new party in town and it’s called Flashdance. Can you remember the iconic water works scene in the original movie? You won’t have to imagine it for long once you sit down for this new musical.

Flashdance The Musical

Flashdance The Musical

If you love the 80’s music, hair styles, dancing and most of all the legwarmers, you will be right at home with this production. Even if you don’t adore these things, you will find yourself moving to the live orchestra which sounding more like an 80’s hair band than an orchestra. Perfect for this play.

The play starts off with a running start and gets right into the story line. It was a fast start for me who prefers more of a background building and character development. Once all the characters were introduced throughout the play, the story line begun to come alive and I fell in love with each character. Kudos to the Casting director who found the perfect character for each performer whom seemed to have been born to play their particular part. The leading lady Emily Padgett was a dead ringer for the original movie character.

I found some characters had a shaky start with their first song but each ended with a bang. The singing in the play was equal to, if not better than, the dancing. All the performers were superb singers, dancers and actors.

The set and lighting was a plus for this play. I never questioned what location we were at in the play because there was a huge display at the top of the stage at every scene change. My only question about the set is “just how did they do that water dance scene?” It was so perfect.

Costumes were exquisite but not over the top. They were very believable for the time period. They were also just on the edge of being rated a little more than PG-13. The language was appropriate for this type of play and slang was kept a very minimum.

As I walked out of the playhouse, I wondered why I didn’t attend more productions. I absolutely fell in love with this medium and will be back soon. The actors made this play but the scene and music made the actors. ~ Miranda Lessie

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The 1st week: Are my goals realistic?

I have come to the realization that even I, as the epitome of the positive mental attitude, still hear those negative voices in my head.  For all the conversations I have with clients, friends and other athletes about going out and just having fun, I still have grand notions of finishing races with a PR(personal record) and while working out this week those goals seem daunting.

I had three Lactic Threshold tests I had to complete this week; one each for swimming, biking and running.  While just doing these tests I felt like I was really out of shape, and truth be told, I did take an off season for the last couple of months, at least by triathlete standards.  I did complete at least 5 hour long workouts a week with a half-marathon and a 10k thrown in there, and, oh yeah Ragnar, but I wasn’t in “training” mode per say.  This week I started back “in training” and my goals seem so far off and this is only my third day.

Monday, I completed my Bike and Run LT tests which consisted both of a 10 minute warm up, followed by 40 minutes of the event at a pace that burned my legs and put me into a feeling of oxygen deprivation but not so much that I couldn’t complete the full 40 minute main set which was then followed by a 10 minute cool down.  My running LT is 173 and my biking LT is 165.  I looked into my future workouts they are noted with requirements that include the LT.  For instance:  Bike 12×1 minute climbs at LT+10, meaning I should be climbing and my heart rate should be 175.  Sounds like fun doesn’t it?  I know my body will acclimate, hopefully I won’t make a mess before it does.

Tuesday, I completed my first bike workout and strength workout.  The bike was 8-12×1 minute climbs in the saddle at a RPM of 50-60.  Now my normal riding RPM is 85-95, so you can imagine the resistance that had to be on the bike.  I ended up doing it on the spin bikes at LA Fitness, because, well, there are no hills in my general vicinity which is Tampa, Florida.  Nothing but flatland here.  I have to travel 45 miles north to San Antonio to get any resemblance of some hills, and during the week, that just is not happening.  Why?  I have a responsibility to this activity called “work”.  I wish I could sit here, blog and comment all day, but unfortunately I cannot.  I blog in between meetings, lunch and then edit when I can.  This workout while being fun, was what I would call, THE QUAD KILLER.  It was brutal.

Unfortunately, I was late getting to the gym so I was not able to get my strength workout in, so I showered, drove to work and then returned that evening.  Luckily, I always have an extra set of workout clothes in the car. (I think I got that from Ben Mena.  He is notorious for spontaneously telling his girlfriend to just drop him off 10-15 miles from home and after changing into a spare set of shorts and shoes he runs home.)

I haven’t worked out with weights in a while, and I know from my studies of the anatomical makeup of muscles and the neurological systems of the body that there is a “breaking in” period no matter how much experience you have lifting.  In order to activate the pleasure center of my brain instead of the pain center, I had to drop the weight down and do the exercises concentrating on good form.  It was a circuit of 5 supersets and it was not easy, no sir, not easy at all.  Deadlifts, pull-ups, squat to overhead thrusts, medicine ball wood choppers, side planks, cable twists and more.  I felt beat to death afterwards.  Of course, I understand my body enough that I had to stretch very well afterwards or my back would be yelling at me later.

I also learned why I really enjoy working out in the morning.  It was extremely busy at the new South Tampa LAF last night.  I barely got a parking space, and I ended up having to do most of the movements in a tiny little space, while other members were just waiting to pounce.  It was at that point I read myself the riot act and vowed that no matter how much I had to do during the week, I would just wake up early to finish all of my workouts in the mornings.

That vow started this morning as I was up at 4:30 and ready to leave at 5 even though my first workout was track at UT which didn’t start until 6.   That workout was brutal as well;  800-400×3-1mile-400×3, at least this week I didn’t falter until the last 400 and only by a couple of seconds.  As soon as I finished and cooled down I headed to LAF to do my swim T-test.  Basically this is 1000 meters swam as if I was in a race and then the average time of a 100 meters is considered my T-Pace for workouts.  Future workouts for example included “4×100 at T-pace – 10 seconds”.  I have been working really hard on my body position in the water, but I am still really slow. (Notice I am not mentioning what my T-Pace actually is.)  With a pull buoy or fins, I can go forever at 1:50 min per 100m, but without I am…well…a little slower.

After going through all of this, I guess I feel like I should.  There is a long journey ahead.  I might as well enjoy it.

Carpe Viam!!!

A New Year, A New Goof

Ragnar Relay Finish

Happy New year from the IronGoof. I hope everyone had a relaxing and pleasant holiday season. I took some time away from the Social Media stage for awhile which of course, coincided with my off-season and the holidays. Oh, I checked in from time-to-time, so I wasn’t completely away, but for the most part the last couple of weeks was pretty much spending time with family for the holidays, working a little and of course just this last weekend; Ragnar Relay: Miami-Key West. More on that later.

 I want to mention my opinions on New Year’s Resolutions. Personally, to RESOLVE to make changes leaves a lot of room for disappointment, but to decide to make positive changes in your life or set goals allows for a journey. It is a trail to blaze and a challenge to conquer, not just an idea that might take shape. I always thought the best way to start a new year is to document what is to be accomplished in the coming year. What makes this blog kinda cool is that now I can publish it and be accountable to everyone. So here they are:

  Personal:
1. Get over my fear of leaving my day job and get my business off the ground.
2. Reduce debt by minimally 50%
3. Re-commit to a financial plan and budget
3. Complete my Certified Personal Trainer, USAT Level 1 coach and USATF Level 1 and minimally begin my Certified Nutrition Professional.
4. Blog at least 5 times a week

 Sports & Fitness:
1. 2 Ironman Triathlons: IM Louisville, IM Florida
2. IM FL in less than 12 hours
3. Running average pace at 7:30 min/mile at RPE 2
4. Biking average pace at 22 mph at RPE 2
5. Swim at 1:45 per 100m at RPE 3
6. Start CrossFit as strength training
7. 1 half-marathon at 1:35 or less

A little aggressive?  Absolutely, but isn’t that what life is all about?  As my friend Casey would say, “Go big or Go home!”.  The secret goal I have, which obviously will not be so secret anymore is to take on the motto:  “Always be doing something that matters.”  For example, watching the boob tube means nothing and does nothing for anyone.  Does that mean I am going to stop watching TV?  Heck no, but this year it will not be the only thing I am doing.  If the TV is on, then I need to be doing something else as well.  Blogging, training on the bike trainer or the treadmill, foam rolling, stretching, something besides just being a spectator.  

That is the plan for my year.  What are your goals?

I have so much to write about.  I have reviews to blog about, race reports to write.  Be prepared to be seeing a little more activity than normal from the Goof.

Brandon Half Marathon

Coming up:
Brandon Half Marathon Race Recap
Nexus 7 tablet review
Hydro Flask Review
Just Say No 10k Race Recap
Samsung 18 megapixel Camera review
Ragnar Relay Recap

I might be doing all this in just a couple of posts, so it may be long, or will it.  I may have another way of getting you the information.  Just wait and see.

Here’s a  new tag line I am adopting to keep all of you motivated this year from my friend Summer Bailey:

“Carpe Momentum”
 (Seize the Moment)